Colorado Springs News, Sports & Business

ROAR in the City brings adventure, beer lovers to downtown Colorado Springs

16 photos
+ captionThe Here for the Beer team takes a "selfie" picture after finishing Frantic 14ers obstacle where they had to place all the Colorado 14ers in order of elevation during the ROAR in the City urban adventure race Saturday, July 12, 2014, throughout downtown Colorado Springs. The race was a fundraiser for the UpaDowna club. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock)

Wearing a Houston Astros shirt, a red headband and knee-high socks with "Beer" written down the sides, Paul Fletcher stood in the middle of the CityROCK climbing center waiting for instructions.
Fletcher and his "Here for Beer" teammates were all dressed in short shorts and bright clothes that...

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Wearing a Houston Astros shirt, a red headband and knee-high socks with "Beer" written down the sides, Paul Fletcher stood in the middle of the CityROCK climbing center waiting for instructions.

Fletcher and his "Here for Beer" teammates were all dressed in short shorts and bright clothes that they planned just for the event. But compared to the people around them, they looked normal.

"We're pretty serious," Fletcher said.

"Here for beer" was one of 30 teams competing in the "Really Outrageous Adventure Race," also called "ROAR in the City," that took place across Colorado Springs Saturday. The competitors, all 21 and over, received a free pint of beer for competing.

The goal of the event was to create an urban race that also combined educational activities, said Randi Hitchcock, a staff member of UpaDowna, who was behind the event.

Teams were judged not only on if they could complete specific tasks but also based on their use of social media, team spirit and costumes.

After receiving an envelope with clues, the teams headed to different sites across the city, which included Antlers, Memorial and Acacia parks.

At Acacia, the "XYZ" team, clad in bright orange shirts, tried to compete a task that involved teamwork and balance.

They navigated across the grass and around a group of trees by only stepping on pieces of narrow lumber in an event called "river crossing." With only a few pieces of wood, the last person in the line had to reach down and grab the piece he or she just went by, and pass it to the front of the line. The lead person then placed it down so the line could move forward.

After a few minutes, all four members of "XYZ" leapt passed a marker in the grass, collected their points based on their time, and started running towards Nevada Avenue to take on their next task.

Around 1:30 p.m., teams began making their way to the Bristol Brewing Company to celebrate the event and find out their scores.

"High Aptitude" finished first with 144 out of the 150 total points. "Here for beer," finished second after winning the rock, paper, scissors tiebreaker over "Charlie's Anglers." Awards for best team name and most spirited were also handed out.

"We went ahead and named it the first annual," Hitchcock said after the event, which she hopes to bring back again next year. "We've just been getting nothing but positive feedback all day."